2 Samuel 16:9,11 - "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head...let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord hath bidden him."

Matthew 7:15 - “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Matthew 24:11 - “…and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Ed Young Acquires Church Just 1/2 Mile from Perry Noble's Columbia, SC Satellite - Who Will Win the "Battle of the Tight Pants"?

Ed Young announced last week that Fellowship Church has opened a new satellite church in Columbia, South Carolina - just 1/2 mile from Perry Noble's Columbia satellite church!

Ed Young's new Columbia satellite is actually an acquisition of an existing church (Friend Church) that is joining Ed Young's system of churches. Ed did the same thing in Miami last month, acquiring a former hispanic baptist in Midtown Miami. These acquisitions are a perfect business strategy for Ed: each of these new churches will be a place where he can sell his books and sermons, and where revenue can be brought back to the mother church.

Seeing Ed Young expand his church brand into South Carolina should not come as a surprise, given that Perry Noble has seen explosive growth with his satellites with revenue in excess of $25 million a year. There are plenty of peeps in South Carolina ready to join mega churches,and who are gullible enough to obey Noble's and Young's abusive tithing sermons (for sampling, click here, here, here, here, here, and here)

The continued expansion of mega churches using satellites and church acquisitions is further proof that modern evangelicalism is about mega church personalities who are seeking to build their personal and church brands by expanding into areas already saturated with churches to tap into wealthy markets.

"I predict that you
won't soon see the following multi-campus sites opening: Fellowship
Church Wilmer-Hutchins Campus, Saddleback Watts Campus, NorthPoint
Community Church Bankhead Campus, or Second Baptist Houston Third-Ward
Campus. The multi-site movement and
the preponderance of domestic SBC church planting is focused like a
laser upon those areas where people with lots of money live in
church-friendly cultures—places where it is easy to fill a church with
rich people."Bart Barber, Pastor FBC Farmersville (TX)

Bart is right on the money; Ed Young is a Southern Baptist, and he is expanding into areas where he can get new church members who have loads of money who just might be willing to give Ed their checking account numbers.

Recently, Pastor Tom Messer of Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville
announced the church's plans to open a new satellite church in affluent St.
John's county, just south of Jacksonville. Messer told his congregation how much it would cost, who would pay for it, and how the initial investment will yield positive dividends.

Said Tom Messer in Trinity's evening service on September 16, 2012:

"Look, its going to take us probably $150,000
in a budget and $150,000 in capital investment to start a South Campus.
About $300,000. You say 'where is that money going to come from?' You.
You say 'Really? We're going to give it to all those people down there
in St. John's county?' Yes! You say 'Will they ever give it back?'
Sure. Absolutely. They're going to invest it in YOUR rescue mission,
they're going to invest it in YOUR college...". Pastor Tom Messer, 9/16/12

That quote is very telling, and gives us a glimpse into how pastors view satellites! The satellite church members are viewed as people that can give money that will come back to the mother church to the benefit of the church members!

That is the modern model of mega church growth. Potential new church members are viewed as a market to be tapped. Potential church members are viewed as "giving units" who can begin generating positive cash flow to the mother church. Starting new, autonomous churches doesn't generate cash flow for the mother church, doesn't help hire new staff, or provide the needed revenue to justify an increase in the pastor's salary and expense budget. It will be interesting to watch the battle of Perry Noble and Ed Young in Columbia. Reminds me of this video, where Will Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon quarrel over who has the tightest pants in the land.

55 comments:

Anonymous
said...

In Malachi 3 they were needing a revival. In Malachi 3, God says here's how you can have one. "Bring your tithes and offerings and I will cause revival to come." They needed revival and He said "you have robbed from Me, but if you will bring your tithes and offerings, "and I'm paraphrasing, " revival will break out again." How many of you know there's a connection here folks. Tithing is God's way of bringing a move of God in the Earth. I am convinced that the church wants revival. He said bring your tithes and offerings to the storehouse. And He said "when you bring your tithes and offerings, I'm going to release myself in the Earth". Now what would happen if the church and America started to do that, what would we have in America? Revival...a return to faith and faithfullness in God. I can tell you what we would have, if every Christian in America got on their knees and said "Father, forgive me for stealing from You, I didn't realize it was a sacred thing" and say "I will obey You, I will become a tither." I can tell you there would be a Holy Ghost move in this nation. We would call the shots. We could vote in who we wanted.

As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 "But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts."

Those who preach tithing and those who hear it have a veil lover their hearts. You cannot fully know Christ if you are still tied to the old covenant laws which are no longer in effect. Don't let any of these suave preachers fool you! They are holding you captive to a law which is no longer binding on Christians.

Troll is out early this morning! The OT tithe was never money - it was food - a tenth of your fields and tenth of your herds. The only time "tithe" is mentioned in the new testament is when Jesus tells the Pharisees that they tithe their dill and cumin - foodstuff! A 501(c)3 wants me to "tithe"? Certainly, it'll have to be in a year when my garden grows in!

Anon - Malachi was accusing the priests of robbing God of the tithe the people were bringing. Only Levites could collect tithes, we don't have them any more. Plus, at that time, there was a NATION of Israel, that had ONE temple where God supposedly dwelt and the nation had an actual storehouse where food was to be kept. You have been deeply abused to think that the loving Creator God wants you to give your hard earned money, money he enabled you to earn, to some 501(c)(3) to pay salaries, utilities, overhead, and have nice programs for Christians to come to once or twice a week.

Think about it. The Creator, invisible God's plan is for you to fork over your income to some guy's budget? Really? What a great scam if you can get people to believe it.

Have you ever read the New Testament? You are talking to Christians and not orthodox Jews are you not?

That is OT thinking, not NT practice. If more people tithed here in the U.S., there would be more million dollar preachers in multi-million dollar homes and Krystal Kathydrals for them to fleece the flock in. Look at the churches in the U.S. with big facilities. They do not spend their money on helping the poor and downtrodden, the sort of people Jesus served. NO. They pay big benefits to the staff, have comfy places to sit while being entertained, and go to work aiding and abetting the rich who steal from the poor.

The heart of the first comment can be expressed in his closing remarks: "WE would call the shots. WE could vote in who WE wanted." WOW! Did this person just say that? I would rather have JESUS call the shots and vote in who HE wanted. In fact, HE already does due to HIS sovereignty.

To answer the other question (i.e. What would happen if every church attender tithed?) Well, my guess is that you would see the hiring of more pastors and the building of bigger buildings. Tithe teaching pastors are quick to state that if you aren't tithing on a little, then you will not on much. I would like to see them turn this judgement on themselves. If they are spending all of their donations on themselves with the "little" that they receive, then they will spend it all on themselves if they get more.

Back on topic: WHY do you think these churches, Trinity included, are "called" to open campuses in affluent markets? Just more PROOF that as "Godly" as men like Tom Messer may appear to be, they are all about the money. Unbelievable and sickening! And yet their congregants are getting what they pay for, so no objections. And besides, the poor will get pennies on the dollar too. So its a win-win. 1 penny on the dollar is better than nothing, right orphan/widow/poor?

Hmmm. Let me guess, preacher. Your religion teaches there is an invisible being that wants me to give you my money. Yeah, I'll buy that. No problem with that at all. Who do I make the check to? Wait, I can give online to this invisible being? How convenient! What a great God this is. I thought it said to bring the tithe, not send it online. And wait, there is more? He will treat me better if I do that? No favoritism? Sounds good. I give Him (by giving to you), money I earn by working hard (its his money when my boss has it, and his money after I work all day for it and my boss gives His money to me in exchange for my labor;) but I go ahead and give it back to my boss, no I mean God, oops I mean to my church because this is what the ancient Jews did to the Levitical tribe of priests in ancient days with food. Mskrd sense to me. I am sure it is Biblical if you say so. I mean what motive would you have to mislead me and lie to me about this. It's not like your salary and support of your family depends on it. I am sure your degree in Old Testament history or preaching would make you employable anywhere. So where can I sign up? I want to be a Christian and start giving God his money back asap. :)

Listen, God doesn't need your money. Can I tell you something, God doesn't need your money. This isn't about God needing your money or my money. I mean if you have to think about this, would you just think about where He lives, and tell me He needs my little tithe. This tithe isn't about God needing my money, . it's about my relationship to Him. Its about involving me in the dynamics of a great Kingdom in the earth where there will be no decrease, always an increase in the Kingdom. Thats what this is all about. Its not about God needing my money. I mean He could throw down a chunk of gold anytime. And to think that God's concerned about my ten percent. God said "Listen, I want to see if I can trust you. I want you to take what is sacred and see what you do with it, so I can give you something bigger and better ." That's what its all about.

Old testament laws cannot bring revival to new testament believers. Oh ye foolish Americans, who has deceived you that you should not obey the truth? You who were saved by grace are you now going to get God to send revival through the works of the law?

I have a bit of a problem with preachers who take their "executive staff" to Disney Land and use their experience in a serman as Mac Brunson did - the budget at FBC is so misused - people see it and have no desire to see their tithe moneies going to these big cats for pleasure!

No, that's not what tithing is all about. Tithing under the law was supporting the Levitical priests with food - no money. They were provided with food because they did not have any inheritance of land in Israel. No land means no place to grow your own. God was their inheritance. As such, the other tribes in Israel supported the priests. The modern custom of tithing is so far from the OT truth of it. And what's worse, these preachers are twisting it for THEIR gain, not for the kingdom, and gullible followers who are too lazy to open their bibles and read for themselves are repeating these same lies. As followers of Christ, our salvation comes from grace, not from the works of the law. Even if we were still under the law, the tithe would not apply - there is no Levitical priesthood today.

What would happen to the church in America if every Christian who claims to be tithing, would start treating their tithes as a sacred thing? What would happen to the church in America if every Christian started to tithe? I can tell you. We would annihilate welfare. Folks would line up at the church to get help, not at some office downtown. And what an opportunity for the Gospel. Missionaries wouldn't be calling to say "My son's hungry, please send me some food." Some 20 percent of Christians in typical churches are tithers. In the first church that I attended, I knew a man that was rich, the wealthiest man there - had more money than he could spend in his lifetime - he came up to me and said "I gave $5.00 a week and that's all I will ever give." Now I bet you he's sorry about that. He's dead. I kind of think when he got to heaven, God said "Did you bring your $5.00 with you?" He didn't understand what was holy and unholy. He was just tight-fisted and stingy. Thats what he was. He loved money. That's not giving to God. A church that understands that the tithe is a holy, sacred thing will prosper and grow. We have to come to understand, that I'm not giving my tithe, it is not my tithe, it's HIS tithe and it is the Pastors responsiblity to God to see that it gets to the right place.

“Is it godly to mock? Being a smart alec does not make You spiritual”You mean like Elijah? 1 Kings 18:27 “And at Noon Elijah mocked them…”

“God is tired of this mess. He does not want His kids hating each other.”Really? Does God consult with you? Or is it just you that is tired of this mess? Of course coming here is entirely voluntary on your part. If you do not like what is posted here you should follow the advice of those you admire so much and in their words, “If you don’t like it, leave.

“Blogs like this will one day burn in Hell.”On this one I have to admit you are partly right. Blogs like this will burn one day, just not in hell. Like everything else that is man made everything here is going to burn. Only people will carry on into eternity.

What would happen to the church in America if every Christian who claims to be tithing, would start treating their tithes as a sacred thing? What would happen to the church in America if every Christian started to tithe? ___________________________________

Here is what would happen: Pastors buying more air time on TV, opening of satellite churches in affluent areas, hiring family members on staff, building even larger extravagant churches (maybe even some Cathedrals with gold plated idols would make a rebound?), luxury cruises, multiple trips year after year after year to the "holy" land, private jets, more christian schools for our little angels, less money for government to really hire police and teachers and maintain schools, more poor and homeless because generous Christians are giving any and all extra income they have to the church, more cities and governments cutting libraries and parks because the revenue is down due to tax exempt organizations siphoning off millions and millions from the citizens into a "non-profit" organization that doesn't pay taxes on its wealth. Should I go on? If you really think members giving more would help the poor more, then why do so many churches have capital campaigns and building programs, but none are raising these funds to help the poor. Sheesh! Please quit living in la la land.

Merging with Ed Young equates to an acquisition by Ed in my view. Another outlet for Ed to sell his wares and market his brand of pseudo-Christianity. Another market in which he can sell his tithing baloney.

The ones who will be xplainin before God, prior to possible time below, are the pastors who lie in the pulpit, live like kings, and tell people that's because God chose them.

Tithing as preached in megas is heresy and a sin, meant to line the pocket and enhance the power of the pastor. The bible teaches more against economic sin than against any other, and taking financial advantage of the flock is smack dab contrabiblical.

Has anyone noticed how mega pastors hire their wives and children in the churches they pastor and at very high levels of income over $100,000. That does not occur in the real corporate world. What is wrong with this? Anyone want to take a stab at it?

1 Chron. 12:32 speaking of the sons of Issachar:From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.

"They understood the signs of the times".

If it took tight pants to get people in heaven, Jesus would have worn tight pants.

If it took rock bands and high definition video to win this world, then Jesus would be on plasma in Jerusalem.

It's very lopsided when people keep hearing they should tithe, but the Church doesn't say what, biblically, the church should do with the tithe - and they don't invite people to hold them accountable to it.

Guess what's next Dog? Fellowship London. I'm tellin you, this is franchise church, corporate fashion, all in way that simply puts Ed's face and books in a wider place (to the exclusion of all other writers) and paves the way for Ed/Lisa to private jet all over the world and have the business (church) pay for it.

FC is opening 7 new churches all over the world in either fashion or fishing centers. Hmmmm.

When you go to Wal-Mart you see on the wall it says "manager" with a name and picture. That means somebody in that store is in charge of somebody else's stuff. What would happen if that manager just decided one Monday morning that he wasn't going to open, and just started hauling off the stuff? Well, it wouldn't take Sam Walton long to show up in his green pick-up, if he were living, and put a stop to that. Why? It's not the manager's stuff. You see he's managing Wal-Mart, he doesn't own Wal-Mart.

In the 12th chapter of Luke, verse 35, it's about the evil servant. I found God's judgment came upon the one set in charge of God's business. And the Greek word there is the word "servant". It means manager or steward and God said "I'm bringing judgment to this one because he didn't handle my affairs correctly. I mean this was mine, I left you in charge and you blew it."

Well, let me show it to you again. In the 16th chapter of the same book, is the parable of the unjust steward. He said to his disciples, "He who is faithful in a little, is faithful also in much. And he who is unfaithful in a little, is unfaithful also in much."

If I give you $1000 this week and $100 belongs to God, it's a sacred thing, and if you don't take care of that as a manager or as a steward, what makes you think that God will trust you with something eternal? He won't.

And it goes on, God's judgment against the one's in charge of His money. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 4 - verse 2 says, "Moreover it is required"...that word required kind of burns in my spirit..."of stewards"...that's the same word we've been using ...or manager, ....it is required "that they have been found faithful."

Now how many of you know that when God says required, it is not a

suggestion. They're not the 10 suggestions. Theyre call Commandments. So God wants you to get hold of something that will set you free. I am totally convinced that when church members begin to understand their relationship with the money that God has put in their hands, revival is going to break out. I can tell you it really will. The move of God is coming.

I'm curious, how do those of you who do not support tithing propose we fund the efforts of the local church? I attend a church that has about 2000 people attending in four services. Our lead pastor makes $27,ooo/year, so he is not "fleecing us".

We have a limited number of staff and associate pastors who are paid. Volunteers fill in the gaps.

This is not a combative statement, just one of genuine curiousity.

Someone may be tempted to suggest that our pastors work a part-time job, but I can assure you that the amount of time they devote to the conduct of their jobs would not allow for that.

I say lock em in a steel cage with no holds barred. The man who walks out can keep his church and continue to preach tithing. The loser must have his head shaven, and close down his version of God's work. Afterall, the one who "tithes" the most should win given that is what they preach in the pulpit-right? IE the more you give the more God blesses

How were churches funded in the first century? If your income depended on that mode of compensation how secure would you feel?

Culturally, I think we have lost a lot of integrity in general. I don't know the answer to my question above, but if it relied on the generosity of the average Joe, I don't know that any churches would thrive.

I was wondering what happened to the Columbia satellite location. It is no longer listed on the Fellowship Church site as a campus and it was taken off of the Seven campaign. I guess it was no longer financially feasible.

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About Me

We're small, insignificant, and harmless. But we have a loud, piercing bark that seems to annoy those in mega churches the most. Not Kool-Aid drinkers, only fresh, filtered water, please; with Grape or Cherry flavoring from Walmart. "Let him alone; God hath bidden him to speak:"